Senate Proceeding on Nov 10th, 2009 :: 0:54:50 to 1:04:50
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0:54:46 to 0:55:07( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: debate. i thank the president and i the presiding officer: the senator from south mr. thune: mr. president, i want to commend the senator from tennessee. i totally support his approach. i think handling health care reform in a way that reflects a more thoughtful, step by step

0:54:50 to 1:04:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Thune

0:55:08 to 0:55:28( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: approach is the correct way to proceed, and the leadership, the democrat leadership in the house of representatives wanted to pass a health care reform bill, mr. president, in the worst possible way, and they succeed on saturday in passing it in the worst possible way. it is a 2,000-page bill which was debated for about four hours

0:55:29 to 0:55:50( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: and passed on a party-line vote. it was a partisan bill. very limited amount of debate. very few number of amendments that were offered. the republicans, i think, were able to offer one substitute during that entire debate, and they passed out a 2,000-page bill that expands the federal government by $3 trillion over

0:55:51 to 0:56:11( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: ten years when it's ful implemented. so you have a 2,000-page bill coming out of the house of representatives, a $3 trillion expansion of the federal government, and i think what the american people are probably asking in observing this process, mr. president, what does this all mean for me? well, let me tell what you it means if you're a taxpayer in this country.

0:56:12 to 0:56:32( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: if you are someone who currently doesn't have insurance in this country, you're going to pay higher taxes. if you're somebody who has insurance, you're going to pay higher taxes. if you're a medical device manufacturer, you're going to pay higher taxes. if you're a small business, you're going to pay higher taxes. if you are someone who has a -- a flexible spending account,

0:56:33 to 0:56:54( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: you're going to pay higher taxes. if you're someone who has a health savings account, you're going to pay higher taxes. on your tax return and deducts your medical expenses, you're going to pay higher taxes. so pretty much, mr. president, that kind of covers the gamut. everybody going to be hit with higher taxes to pay for

0:56:55 to 0:57:18( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: monstrosity, this 2,000-page bill which, according to the c.b.o., raises taxes in the first ten years by three quarters of a trillion dollars. now, it's interesting about that when i mentioned that people who don't have insurance are going to pay higher taxes. there is in this bill what's called an individual mandate, and those who would pay the higher tax on an individual

0:57:19 to 0:57:40( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: mandate, it would raise taxes by about $ who don'tly don't have -- currently don't have health insurance coverage. the c.b.o. has looked at who would be impacted by the individual mandate and found that almost half of that tax burden would fall on taxpayers that are making between $22,800 a year and $68,400 a year.

0:57:41 to 0:58:02( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: so about half of the individual mandate, about half of that that $33 billion tax increase would fall on individuals who -- who in their incomes fall into the middle of that category. $22,800 a year year. that's according to the congressional budget office. now, it raises taxes by by $135 billion on businesses

0:58:03 to 0:58:23( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: through what's called a pay or play mandate. in other words, if you don't offer health insurance, you don't offer insurance that meets the government requirement, then you pay a payroll tax starting at 2% up to 8% of payroll. that raises $135 billn in this bill in additional taxes and taxes that are going to hit small businesses, and there are

0:58:24 to 0:58:44( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: also taxes on what they call high-income earners. that raises about $460 billion in the bill, and it's designed to hit people who make between $500,000 and up to to $1 million a year, which is sort of the traditional tax the rich and pay for this thing. the dirty little secret in all that, mr. president, is that that tax hits a lot of small businesses.

0:58:45 to 0:59:05( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: in fact, about a third of that tax is going to fall on small businesses who file -- or who are organized as sub chapter s corporations or l.l.c.'s and therefore file on the individual tax return, and so you're going to be faced with situation where a small business next year when the tax cuts that were enacted in 2001 and 2003, the

0:59:06 to 0:59:26( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: top marginal income tax rate goes from 35% up to 39.6%, you will add in this health care bill, this 2,000-page bill, a 5.4% surtax on those high-income earners. and so if you can believe this, the top marginal income tax rate, federal income tax rate in

0:59:27 to 0:59:48( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: this country will go up to 45%, 45%. that's the highest rate that we've seen in 25 years. and as i said, mr. president, it would be one thing if it were just hitting high-income individuals who are ming more than half a million dollars a year, but it doesn't. it hits small businesses. small businesses that are organized as partnerships of sub chapter s corporations,

0:59:49 to 1:00:10( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: l.c.'s, and therefore file an individual tax return. so you have $460 billion of tax increases there, $135 billion in the pay or play mandate, mande, $33 billion in tax increases on -- through the individual mandate. all totaled, $752 billion in new taxes in this 2,000-page bill that are going to be passed on

1:00:11 to 1:00:31( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: and paid by the american public. now, the joint tax committee said that in the senate bill -- now, by the way, this is the senate version of the bill, mr. president. this is only 1,500 pages. we don't know as the senator from tennessee pointed out what the time senate bill is going to look like. all we know is this is the version that was reported out of the senate finance committee,

1:00:32 to 1:00:52( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: 1,500 pages, also filled with higher taxes on individuals and small businesses. and what's interesting about this is, again, the argument was made that we'll make the people who are -- the wealthy, the affluent pay for this. but what the joint tax committee found was that 87% of the tax burden in the senate finance committee bill would be paid by

1:00:53 to 1:01:13( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: wage earners making less than than $200,000 a year, and a little over 50% would be paid by those making under $100,000 a year. now, if you fit into those income categories, $100,000, categories, $100,000, $200,000, under that threshold, there are 46 million americans who will be

1:01:14 to 1:01:34( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: hit with higher taxes under the 1,500-page senate finance committee bill as opposed to the 2,000-page house bill that passed the house of representatives on saturday. mr. president, just to remind colleagues that when you talk about a massive $3 trillion expansion of the federal government, it has to be paid for somehow.

1:01:35 to 1:01:56( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: and in it's paid for in the form of higher taxes and it's also paid for by way of medicare cuts that are going to hit very hard on seniors across this country. $170 billion in cuts to medicare advantage, cuts to providers like hospitals, home health agencies, hospices, everybody getso have their reimbursements cut in order to

1:01:57 to 1:02:17( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: finance this $3 trillion montana monstrosity of an expansion of the federal government here in washington, d.c. now, having said that, iwould be one thing if, in fact, the purpose or the goal was accomplished, which is to reduce health care costs for people in this country. eyironically, after a $3 trillion

1:02:18 to 1:02:38( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: expansion of the federal government and three-quarters of a trillion dollars in additional taxes in the first ten years, you don't see any impact on rates, on insurance premiums for the people in this country. in fact, they're not going to go down, they're actual going to go up. and i want to read for you what the congressional budget office saidbout that, mr. president. the c.b.o. says -- and i quote -- "on balance, during the

1:02:39 to 1:02:59( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: decade following the ten-year budget win doark the bill would -- window, the bill would increase both federal spout lays fohealth care and the federal budgetary commitment for health care relative to the amounts under current law." that's consistent with everything we've seen and heard so far from the congression budget office about the impact that this bill would he on overall health care costs and on the premiums that average americans would he happened up

1:03:00 to 1:03:20( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: having to pay. now, with governments, because something has been said and been made in this bill about the expansion of medicaid, and, in fact, there is a massive expansion in a decade, and in fact that one-quarter of the country will be on medicate. and this was a program, of

1:03:21 to 1:03:42( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: course, at one time was designed to assist poor, disabled,eople who really need help, need assist wednesday health care. a decade from now with this expansion of medicaid, you would see one-quarter of our population on medicaid in this country. and the other -- the other component ofhat, the element in this bill that i think should be so disturbing to states around this country, as we all know, medicaid is a

1:03:43 to 1:04:03( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: state-federal shared responsibility. and i see the senator from nebraska, senator johanns, who is a former governor of the state of nebraska, knows full well about the cost of medicaid to state budgets. well, what this bill would do is it would increase the amount of costs that would be passed on to states by $34 billion. so states are going to have to

1:04:04 to 1:04:24( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: look at how are we going to finance this thing, the form of additional and higher taxes. and again, a $3 trillion expansion of the federal government, cuts to medicare that will affect not only seniors but also most providers around the massive -- massive increases in taxes which will hit squarely at

1:04:25 to 1:04:45( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: small businesses and individuals and parcularly individuals, as i said earlier, who make less than $100,000 a year. it -- i will yield back the -- my time andield to the senator from nebraska but wou indicate, madam president, that we need to do what the senator from tennessee suggested and that is start over and do this step by step rather than this

1:04:46 to 1:04:50( Edit History Discussion )

John Thune: massive expansion of the government that will ray taxes and higher -- and increase health care costs for people in